Japanese Toilets

As far as I can tell, there are 3 of toilets in Japan. I have had the pleasure of experiencing all 3 in our short time here. One thing that is pretty common, other than in shopping malls or in your house, is the idea that you should change your shoes before entering the bathroom. Where you stand to wash your hands is fine, but to enter the stalls, shoes must be changed. Another similarity is the lack of paper towels. Once you wash your hands, you either have a high powered Japanese hand dryer to use (dries your hands in 3 seconds flat) or you have to use the “shake” technique. Alternatively, I use my cloth (aka sweat rag). Everyone constantly carries one around and I figure you can use it to dry your hands on.

1 – The lowest grade toilet, affectionately known as “the squatter”.
How you are supposed to use this, I’ll never know. I still don’t really know which way to face. Basically this is an oval shaped porcelain bowl, and you place your feet on either side (sometimes there are grips to put your feet on) and then, well, squat. Japanese people must have some good thighs, and I don’t know how older people do it, but they do. Nik had an interesting talk with one of the teachers who is his friend, asking about how you…do more complicated things on one of these toilets. Basically you just squat for longer. Oh boy!
Nik also tells me that there is a difference in urinals too – basically some are less private than others. I don’t want to find out any more.

2 – The average toilet.
Our home toilet is one of these. Basically this is your regular toilet, no frills. Ours is actually a drop-toilet, kind of like on an airplane. Definitely better than the squatter, but not…

3 – The ULTIMATE toilet!
Okay, this one has all the bells and whistles. From the moment you sit down on the perfectly heated seat, you know you are in for something special. There are many buttons to choose from, including 2 bidets (front and rear!), a water pressure adjuster, a water temperature adjuster, a stop button (good to find this one), and sometimes even a button that makes a water sound effect to conceal any unwanted noises!
At both the junior high schools there is an ultimate toilet and a squatter – why anyone would ever choose the latter is beyond me, but they do! I personally like the bathrooms at the mall, where they play nature sounds and the air is ever so slightly perfumed!

The Weather in Japan

It is the middle of October now, but really it feels a lot like the middle of September for us! Over the past few weeks, we have been experiencing the slow change from summer to fall. However, where Calgary’s temperatures often change daily, the forecast for this week in Japan is: 22, 19, 18, 20, 18. Every week the average temperature drops by a degree or two. At least it’s predictable!
The days start out a little cold, and we sure are glad that Nik figured out how to make the air conditioner blow hot air (genius!) because overnight we do get a little cool. This could be because we sleep on our futon (that’s on the floor!) with only a sheet covering us. We do have lovely comfortable duvets, but we’re using them to sleep on for extra comfort! So we may have to invest in a blanket or two. Last night our extra sheets were drying on the line, so we resorted to covering our blankets with towels.
During the daytime, it is usually somewhat overcast. Some days are cloudier than others, but we haven’t had rain in a while. It is usually a little windy too. But, still no change in the colors of the leaves! We’ll have to keep you posted on that one.

Our Japanese Adventure

We have experienced 2 months in Japan already, and I can't believe all this time has passed already! We are really enjoying our adventure here and wanted to share it with you.